Woman charged with 743 counts of database tampering, to undergo psychiatric evaluation

New Straits Times

2 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court today ordered a former employee of a pay-TV company to undergo 30 days of psychiatric observation at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta after she was charged with 743 counts of unauthorised modifications to the company's database.
Judge Norma Ismail directed that Nora Idayu Jaafar, 48, be admitted to the hospital next Monday following a request by her lawyer, Daniel Annamalai, who informed the court that his client had a referral letter from a private clinic to consult a psychiatrist.
"She sought medical attention on June 6 and was referred for psychiatric evaluation.
"The doctor suspects she may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)," he said.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Rohaiza Abdul Rahman requested the court to decide whether the accused should be sent for psychiatric evaluation following the defence's application.
The court set July 29 for further mention of the case.
During today's hearing, two court interpreters took nearly two hours to read out 132 charges to the accused.
Nora pleaded not guilty to all the charges, which alleged that she made unauthorised changes to the company's customer database by converting standard user accounts into corporate accounts without permission.
She is facing a total of 743 charges, 30 of which were read out on June 4 before she collapsed in the dock midway through proceedings, prompting the court to adjourn and resume the remainder today.
Previously, the court granted her bail at RM10,000 with one surety and imposed additional conditions requiring her to surrender her passport and report to the nearest police station once a month until the trial concludes.
According to the charge sheet, Nora, who was attached to the Commercial Support Unit, is accused of knowingly making unauthorised modifications to account data, thereby altering the contents of the company's database.
The offences allegedly involved 743 Astro customers and were committed between 2013 and 2019 at Astro's office in Menara Icon, Jalan Tun Razak.
She is charged under Section 5(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997, which carries a penalty of up to seven years' imprisonment, a fine of up to RM100,000, or both, upon conviction.